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Old 05-22-2018, 09:55 AM   #395 (permalink)
California98Civic
Cyborg ECU
 
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Coastal Southern California
Posts: 6,299

Black and Green - '98 Honda Civic DX Coupe
Team Honda
90 day: 66.42 mpg (US)

Black and Red - '00 Nashbar Custom built eBike
90 day: 3671.43 mpg (US)
Thanks: 2,373
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Xist View Post
... How far did you drive the car suspecting the head gasket? ....
Quite a while but with a very minor problem. I probably first noticed trace oil in the coolant two years ago. At that time I tested for exhaust gasses and coolant in oil and got nothing, so I judged it not certain--or certainly not serious yet--and started watching. Last winter it got slightly more serious. This spring it was obvious there was more oil in the coolant, so I tested and found exhaust gasses in the coolant too. So, I took it off the road for the repair.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Xist View Post
Do you think disabling your alternator and swapping in the CX transmission are your most efficient modifications?
The single best "engine" mods were the power steering delete and the alternator on/off with deep cycle battery and grid charging. Because the PS delete was free it has had much bigger ROI than the charging mod, which costs in a more expensive battery and the charger.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Xist View Post
I would ask about replacing the head gasket, but I still think rebuilding my engine would be more efficient. ...
If you rebuild the engine, the head is coming off. When the head comes off, you will be replacing the gasket. Do yourself the favor of buying Honda OEM gaskets. I took that advice from someone on my thread here. Good advice, especially for such an important gasket.

Quote:
Originally Posted by jcp123 View Post
Aren't Subarus kinda notorious for head gasket failures? I seem to recall that they are...
Subaru dealerships might really like that reputation, especially if it only applies over 100,000 miles. But my wife's car has absolutely no objective sign of head gasket failure (no odd smoke, no oil o coolant infiltration, no exhaust gas infiltration). The only sign it has of a mechanical failure is failure to give Subaru more of our money. lol
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See my car's mod & maintenance thread and my electric bicycle's thread for ongoing projects. I will rebuild Black and Green over decades as parts die, until it becomes a different car of roughly the same shape and color. My minimum fuel economy goal is 55 mpg while averaging posted speed limits. I generally top 60 mpg. See also my Honda manual transmission specs thread.



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